{"id":339402,"date":"2025-11-15T18:44:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-15T17:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=339402"},"modified":"2025-11-16T16:26:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T15:26:14","slug":"free-iran-convention-showcases-youth-as-the-driving-force-of-irans-democratic-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/iran-resistance\/free-iran-convention-showcases-youth-as-the-driving-force-of-irans-democratic-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Free Iran Convention Showcases Youth as the Driving Force of Iran\u2019s Democratic Future"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-339405 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/free-Iran-COnvention-Panel-4-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"540\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/free-Iran-COnvention-Panel-4-2.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/free-Iran-COnvention-Panel-4-2-300x162.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/free-Iran-COnvention-Panel-4-2-768x415.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/free-Iran-COnvention-Panel-4-2-778x420.jpg 778w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/free-Iran-COnvention-Panel-4-2-150x81.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/free-Iran-COnvention-Panel-4-2-696x376.jpg 696w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">WASHINGTON, DC \u2014 The fourth session of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncrius.org\/free-iran-convention-2025.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Free Iran Convention 2025<\/a>, \u201cThe Power of Youth in Driving Change in Iran,\u201d spotlighted Iran\u2019s new generation as the central engine of the country\u2019s freedom movement. From students and activists risking everything inside Iran to young professionals shaping policy, law, technology, and media abroad, the panel highlighted how Gen-Z courage, digital organizing, and global advocacy are redefining Iran\u2019s political landscape. The discussion underscored that Iran\u2019s youth\u2014modern, connected, and fearless\u2014are not only resisting repression but actively building the foundations for a democratic transition.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"969\" data-end=\"1389\">Panel moderator <strong data-start=\"985\" data-end=\"1004\">Nicole Shariati<\/strong>, a cybersecurity consultant from Denver and daughter of a former political prisoner, opened <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncrius.org\/panel-4-the-power-of-youth-in-driving-change-in-iran.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the fourth panel<\/a> by grounding the conversation in both personal testimony and national struggle. Her father, she said, was imprisoned \u201cfor daring to speak the truth,\u201d and she viewed her presence onstage as a continuation of his fight\u2014and that of thousands whose sacrifices must never be forgotten.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"1391\" data-end=\"1874\">Shariati described a regime that has relied on \u201cfear, humiliation, and bloodshed\u201d to try to break Iran\u2019s youth. Yet, she said, the strategy has failed: \u201cThis brave, relentless generation refuses to surrender their future.\u201d Despite shuttered universities, censorship, internet shutdowns, and violent crackdowns, young Iranians continue organizing, connecting, and resisting\u2014often at extraordinary personal risk. \u201cTheir fearlessness,\u201d she said, \u201cis what terrifies the regime the most.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"1876\" data-end=\"2129\">She praised the <a href=\"https:\/\/english.mojahedin.org\/pmoi-resistance-units\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">MEK-affiliated Resistance Units<\/a> as \u201cthe beating heart of this movement,\u201d agile networks inside Iran that defy tyranny with creativity and courage. Abroad, young Iranians amplify these voices, making the struggle both national and global.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"2131\" data-end=\"2395\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">Iran\u2019s youth, she concluded, have turned \u201cpain into power, oppression into organization, and fear into fire,\u201d forming the backbone of a democratic future.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Panel 4 is currently underway: The Power of Youth in Driving Change in Iran <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/wI5Ob3NrKT\">pic.twitter.com\/wI5Ob3NrKT<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; OIAC: Organization of Iranian American Communities (@OrgIAC) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/OrgIAC\/status\/1989741716770099303?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 15, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"117\" data-end=\"753\"><strong data-start=\"117\" data-end=\"140\">Mohammadreza Hesami<\/strong>, a senior medical dosimetrist who spent his adolescence in Iran, offered a raw and deeply personal account of what it feels like to grow up under a system designed to suffocate ambition. He began by asking the audience to consider the simplest hopes of any young person: \u201cYou want to be the best version of yourself\u2026 you want your nation to grow with you.\u201d But in Iran, he said, those natural aspirations collide immediately with a regime that cares less about nurturing talent than policing conformity. \u201cWhat they care about is how you dress, how you present yourself\u2026 what ideology you follow,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"755\" data-end=\"1086\">Hesami said that the youth quickly learn that the regime is not interested in their dreams but in creating \u201csubordinates that follow their rule.\u201d Living under such conditions \u201cfelt like we were in a prison,\u201d he said, recalling how limited the options became: accept humiliation and imposed poverty, flee the country, or fight back.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"1088\" data-end=\"1517\">Pressed by moderator Nicole Shariati on why the regime relentlessly suppresses the youth, Hesami said the answer is fear. \u201cThe moment people don\u2019t feel afraid anymore is the moment the regime has to answer serious questions,\u201d he said. He cited imprisoned students <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amnesty.org\/en\/documents\/mde13\/5920\/2022\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ali Younesi and Amir Hossein Moradi<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/ncri-statements\/statement-human-rights\/iranian-regime-upholds-death-sentence-for-22-year-old-pmoi-supporter-ehsan-faridi\/\">22-year-old Ehsan Faridi<\/a>\u2014sentenced to death for supporting the MEK\u2014as examples of a system terrified of independent ideas.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"1519\" data-end=\"1634\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">\u201cThe regime hasn\u2019t failed at suppression,\u201d Hesami warned. \u201cThey fear a generation that no longer believes in them.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Washington-  <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/FreeIranConvention2025?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#FreeIranConvention2025<\/a> &#8211; Panel Discussion on Iranian Youth<br \/>\u201cWhy are young Iranians committed to regime change as opposed to incremental social and economic progress?\u201d<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NCRIAlternative?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#NCRIAlternative<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Iran?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Iran<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/du9a2aM4HK\">pic.twitter.com\/du9a2aM4HK<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Firouz Mahvi (@FirouzMahvi) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FirouzMahvi\/status\/1989764337611768287?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 15, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"137\" data-end=\"542\"><strong data-start=\"137\" data-end=\"167\">Mahrana \u201cMickey\u201d Mohammadi<\/strong>, a J.D. candidate at Penn State Dickinson Law and active campus leader, spoke with conviction about how the MEK\u2019s youth-centered roadmap can transform Iran\u2019s future. Reflecting on the recent youth gathering in Paris, she described the atmosphere as \u201cincredibly motivating and refreshing,\u201d crediting Maryam Rajavi for articulating a clear and actionable plan for empowerment.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"544\" data-end=\"1157\">Mohammadi outlined the plan\u2019s core pillars, beginning with dismantling the IRGC\u2019s vast economic monopolies\u2014structures she said have \u201cstrangled the economic potential of the youth.\u201d Reclaiming these stolen assets and redirecting them into a national youth entrepreneurship fund, she argued, would unlock innovation, independence, and opportunity. Restoring free and open universities is another essential element. Campuses, she said, must once again become \u201ccenters of thought rather than tools of ideological control,\u201d where students can think critically, collaborate, and build scientific and civic institutions.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"1159\" data-end=\"1361\">She emphasized that guaranteeing women\u2019s leadership is \u201cabsolutely essential,\u201d noting that repealing compulsory hijab laws and all degrading regulations would establish genuine equality and inclusivity.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"1363\" data-end=\"1823\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">When asked which part of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.maryam-rajavi.com\/en\/viewpoints\/plan-for-future-of-iran\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Maryam Rajavi\u2019s Ten-Point Plan<\/a> she found most significant, Mohammadi highlighted the creation of an independent judiciary. As a law student, she stressed that the rule of law is the backbone of any democracy\u2014and that Iran\u2019s regime has long weaponized its courts to silence dissent. She argued that a secular, rights-based legal system is the only way to ensure impartial governance, freedom of expression, and true justice for all.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\u201cWhy are young Iranians committed to regime change as opposed to incremental social and economic progress?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Panel 4 | <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/FreeIranConvention2025?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#FreeIranConvention2025<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/tiSHGjQhX2\">pic.twitter.com\/tiSHGjQhX2<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; OIAC: Organization of Iranian American Communities (@OrgIAC) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/OrgIAC\/status\/1989745583167606817?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 15, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"119\" data-end=\"841\"><strong data-start=\"119\" data-end=\"133\">Ryan Nasir<\/strong>, a computer science student and R&amp;D intern from San Diego, offered a detailed and forceful explanation of why Resistance Units have become the defining force of youth-led activism in Iran. He described these units\u2014comprised of nurses, students, workers, doctors, and young people across all 31 provinces\u2014as \u201cthe tip of the spear of society,\u201d deeply embedded in daily life and acting as the front line of defiance in a country where minors are executed at the highest per-capita rate in the world. Despite mass arrests\u2014more than 3,600 during the 2022 uprising alone\u2014Nasir emphasized that their numbers continue to grow, expanding into a nationwide network that gives people hope in \u201ca land full of darkness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"843\" data-end=\"1341\">Ryan stressed that the acts <a href=\"https:\/\/english.mojahedin.org\/news\/pmoi-resistance-units-defy-the-regimes-crackdown-with-nationwide-activities-on-anniversary-of-november-uprising\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">carried out by Resistance Units<\/a>, such as writing slogans on walls or striking at centers of repression, represent far more than symbolic gestures. \u201cWhile we may see the final result as just a slogan,\u201d he said, \u201cit shows that someone was willing to stand up\u2026 that the regime is not ten feet tall.\u201d Their open, public messages of support for the MEK and NCRI\u2014sometimes filmed in broad daylight in Tehran\u2014are, he argued, powerful evidence of a dictatorship losing its grip.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"1343\" data-end=\"1766\">Responding to how the Resistance Units connect with the NCRI abroad, Nasir said the relationship is \u201ca synergy built over decades of sacrifice.\u201d The units keep the flame alive inside Iran, he explained, while the NCRI protects and amplifies it internationally. The foundation laid by the MEK and NCRI\u2014from<a href=\"https:\/\/iran1988.org\/1988-massacre\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> the 1988 massacre<\/a> to the struggles of Camp Ashraf\u2014has shaped the discipline and resolve of today\u2019s youth activists.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"1768\" data-end=\"1901\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">This continuity of vision, he concluded, is what will ultimately pave the road to a \u201cfree, democratic, and secular republic of Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1768\" data-end=\"1901\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-339406\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/free-Iran-COnvention-Panel-4-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"530\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/free-Iran-COnvention-Panel-4-1.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/free-Iran-COnvention-Panel-4-1-300x159.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/free-Iran-COnvention-Panel-4-1-768x407.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/free-Iran-COnvention-Panel-4-1-792x420.jpg 792w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/free-Iran-COnvention-Panel-4-1-150x80.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/free-Iran-COnvention-Panel-4-1-696x369.jpg 696w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"112\" data-end=\"559\"><strong data-start=\"112\" data-end=\"130\">Seena Saiedian<\/strong>, a J.D. candidate at the University of Virginia School of Law and a Karsh-Dillard Scholar, delivered one of the panel\u2019s most comprehensive analyses of why Iran\u2019s youth overwhelmingly support <em data-start=\"322\" data-end=\"337\">regime change<\/em> rather than gradual reform. He began by emphasizing that this demand is not made lightly: \u201cRegime change is a serious inquiry,\u201d he said, one that carries immense risks borne directly by the current generation inside Iran.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"561\" data-end=\"1333\">Saiedian explained that young Iranians\u2014educated, ambitious, and globally connected\u2014have known nothing but repression. They face crippling inflation, bleak job prospects, suffocating surveillance by the MOIS, and a state that imprisons students like <a href=\"https:\/\/iran-hrm.com\/2025\/08\/13\/new-sentences-and-intensified-pressure-on-ali-younesi-and-amir-hossein-moradi\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ali Younesi and Amirhossein Moradi<\/a> for the \u201cthoughtcrime\u201d of supporting the MEK. After decades of failed promises from so-called moderates, he argued, the youth understand that no meaningful progress can emerge from within the system. Each new \u201creformist\u201d presidency has delivered only more executions, more censorship, and more brutality. As he described, every major protest\u2014from 2009 to 2017 to 2022\u2014may begin with a specific grievance, but \u201cvery quickly\u2026 radicalizes into a nationwide call\u201d targeting the regime itself.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"1335\" data-end=\"1709\">What sustains this courage, he said, is the knowledge that a viable alternative exists: the NCRI and the MEK. Their decades-long commitment to democracy, their organizational capacity, and their ability to provide structure and hope give young Iranians confidence that they are not resisting alone\u2014 they are part of a national movement with a real platform and a clear plan.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"1780\" data-end=\"2110\">When asked why the MEK resonates so strongly with young Iranians, Saiedian stressed three qualities required of any real transitional alternative: a principled commitment to democracy, organizational capacity, and institutional guardrails for free elections. \u201cThe only movement that meets these criteria,\u201d he argued, \u201cis the MEK.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"2112\" data-end=\"2694\">He underscored that the MEK\u2019s credibility comes from action, not rhetoric. From the moment Khomeini rose to power in 1979, the MEK rejected theological dictatorship and insisted on popular sovereignty\u2014an act of defiance that led to relentless persecution: the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners, repeated attacks on unarmed residents of Camp Ashraf, and even the 2018 foiled bombing plot targeting NCRI\u2019s global gathering in Paris. These events, he said, reveal the regime\u2019s fear: \u201cWhy else would they risk an international catastrophe? Because they are afraid of the MEK.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"2696\" data-end=\"3065\">Saiedian contrasted this with \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/terrorism-a-fundamentalism\/why-the-clerical-regime-in-iran-needs-a-fake-opposition\/\">fake opposition movements<\/a>\u201d\u2014figures who, he argued, emerge only during uprisings to promote themselves without offering coherent platforms or democratic principles. The youth, he insisted, are not interested in returning to monarchy or trading one autocracy for another. \u201cIranians do not want to go back. They want to go forward,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"3067\" data-end=\"3272\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">In closing, Saiedian emphasized that each uprising grows \u201cmore radical, more widespread,\u201d because the youth now believe not only that change is necessary\u2014but that a democratic future is truly within reach.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WASHINGTON, DC &mdash; The fourth session of the Free Iran Convention 2025, &ldquo;The Power of Youth in Driving Change in Iran,&rdquo; spotlighted Iran&rsquo;s new generation as the central engine of [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":339405,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,5489],"tags":[222],"class_list":{"0":"post-339402","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-iran-resistance","8":"category-free-iran-2025-latest-articles","9":"tag-iranian-resistance"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - 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